18 Karat Run of Bad Luck - Part I
by Ace Flyheight
Summary: As bullets ricocheted off the closing door of Vault 101, two wanderers stopped for a moment before pushing through the wooden door at the opposite end of the tunnel and out into the hell of the wastes. This is their story of survival amidst the inhabitants of the Capital Wasteland. Rated M for, well, being Fallout 3. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1 - Vault 101

Author's Notes: I have a feeling that some people are probably getting tired of reading Fallout 3 stories that are pseudo-novelizations even though credit has to be given that a lot of them are definitely interesting with their own tweaks and modifications to the original story. I hope to do something similar with this story of mine, especially considering that it was a combination of mods that gave me the inspiration for this story. The two main mods in question being the Fallout 3 Wanderer's Edition overhaul mod and the Brisa Almodovar companion mod. Oh, and one other thing: at this time, I will not be posting info for each character at the beginning of each chapter to reflect the changes in equipment, perks, karma, etc, that'll inevitably happen throughout each chapter, but I will do it if anyone asks for it in a review. Anyway, enough talking. Actions speak louder than words after all, so here's the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here that is from any of the Fallout games…which is too bad because I would love to own the design for the Pip-Boy.

FALLOUT:

18-Karat Run of Bad Luck – Part 1

(The Only Oasis)

Introduction:

"_War…War never changes. Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage."_

"_In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation. However, it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world – but war, war never changes."_

"_In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as vaults. However when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them – all except those in Vault 101. For on the fateful day, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed…and never reopened. It was here you were born. It is here you will die. Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters and no one ever leaves."_

Chapter 01: Vault 101

"_Listen kiddo, I know you don't like it when daddy leaves you alone, but you need to take care of yourself for a while._"

She said that of all the things that her dad had told her over the years that was the one thing that always seemed to stand out…mainly because of the look in his eyes when he had said it. Personally though, I wonder if maybe he knew that he would leave the vault one day and choose to leave her behind.

Considering what had happened in the vault just a few months ago, I didn't know what to think of her dad anymore. Maybe he had left her behind believing that the Overseer would see to it that Kaitlyn would be taken care of so that she wouldn't have to brave the Wasteland? Maybe he had just felt like he could do whatever it was that he needed to do better without her tagging along?

I glanced around at the small shack that we had taken refuge in for the night and glanced out the window at the small pulsating red lights near the shack. At least if anybody decided to try to attack us, they'd get a nasty surprise. With that, I glanced back down at my companion and shifted a little so that she'd be more comfortable as I decided that I could let her sleep a little longer before having her take over as look-out. As my eyes stayed on her though, I couldn't help but think back to that fateful day in the vault when our world came crashing down all around us.

###

"Wake up, Nathan! Wake up, damn it!"

I groaned a little and slowly opened my eyes to see one of my childhood friends looking down at me, the long red hair giving her away easily.

"Oh, hi Kaitlyn…what time is it?"

For some reason she _glared_ at me when I said that. I yawned a little and climbed out of bed after a moment before I began to change into my normal outfit–a simple Vault 101 jumpsuit. As I finished shrugging the jumpsuit on, I ran a quick diagnostics check on my Pip-Boy to make sure that everything was still okay.

"So, is something wrong, Kaitlyn? I don't normally see you when I first wake up in the morning."

"It's…"

It was at about that time that I glanced over my shoulder and realized that her cheeks were streaked with tears and her eyes were red and puffy.

"Kaitlyn, what's wrong? What happened?"

For as long as I knew her, I could never remember her ever crying over anything.

"It's…it's my dad…he…"

Her dad? I took a few more steps towards her and softly placed my hands on her shoulders.

"What did your dad do?"

"He…he opened the vault door."

I froze at that. Her dad actually opened the door? But why? We had always been told that there was nothing left outside of the vaults and what _could_ have been left was just a barren, inhospitable land. Why would he do that and leave the vault? Moreover, why would he leave his only daughter behind?

"Why? Why'd he leave like that? He knows as well as the rest of us that there's nothing out there!"

I hadn't realized it right then, but my voice had been growing louder until I was nearly yelling.

She shook her head.

"I don't know! He–he just opened the door and left…"

I decided to stay quiet as she continued.

"That's not all though…Jonas…Jonas is dead. He was leaving with dad when the Overseer's guards _murdered_ him and nearly got dad before he managed to get out."

I couldn't believe it…Justin was dead?

"Kaitlyn, how'd you find out about all this anyway?"

"From…from Nicole. She told me about everything. She said that she overheard it from her father and the guards. She also said that…that the Overseer had ordered his guards to find me and…"

I felt my brain stop for just a moment as the realization dawned on me about what was happening.

"And that's why you're here telling me all this, isn't it? He thinks that you know why your father left, doesn't he?"

She nodded and I felt a small growl at the back of my throat. I couldn't believe that Nicole's father had all but issued a hit on Kaitlyn.

"Will you help me, Nathan?"

Even though I expected the question, I still hesitated before giving my answer. If I sided with her, I'd be considered a traitor to the entire vault for going against the Overseer and probably either killed or banished to the outside world. If I sided against her, I'd–I'd never be able to forgive myself. I gave one small sigh followed by a smile as I made my decision, somehow knowing that the rest of my life would be decided with just one word.

"Yes."

"You really will?"

I nodded once. I knew why she was asking me if I really would help her even without her voicing the real reason. She didn't _just_ need someone to help her with the guards…she needed someone that would be willing to leave with her and go out into the outside world to find her dad.

"Thank you, Nathan!"

My body froze up a little as I felt her hug my neck before I finally managed to return the hug.

"Don't thank me yet, Kaitlyn. We've still got to get out of here and…_shit_. They'll be guards posted at the vault entrance by now so we won't be able to get out without a massive fight."

She nodded and began talking as if she was reciting from memory.

"Nicole told me that there was a secret passageway that led to the vault door hidden underneath her father's office and that the guards were currently posted in the hallway leading to the entrance and not in the actual room."

I sighed in relief even though I knew that we'd still have to find some way of getting a hold of the Overseer's office key and terminal password.

"That's one less issue thank goodness. Now, what about equipment and supplies?"

She pointed towards the edge of my bed and I nearly felt like smacking myself in the face as I realized that there was a small backpack there.

"I managed to grab five Stimpaks and two shots of Med-X before I left my dad's quarters. As for weapons, well this is all I've got, sorry–"

While saying that, she softly patted the 10mm pistol that was holstered against her thigh that I had somehow completely overlooked.

"–Nicole left it with me earlier saying that it wasn't much but that it was all she could afford to help me out with right now."

I nodded my sympathy as I walked over to a nearby drawer and took out a .32 pistol along with some rounds for it. As I turned back around to face her, I noticed the look of surprise on her face. After all, most of the Vault inhabitants didn't have any kind of weapons to defend themselves with considering the Overseer's _tolerance_ for them.

"What? I'd rather have something at least to defend myself with instead of relying on the guards…after all; you never can know when something might be useful like right now."

As I tried to chamber five of the rounds though, I felt my hands begin to shake and remembered when I had first found the pistol. I remembered screams, Butch, the heat of the incinerator, Nicole, Kaitlyn–I shook my head. Focus on the present, Nathan. I chambered the final round and placed the rest in a small pouch that was sewn onto the strap of the holster for the .32 pistol so that I didn't have to worry about having problems accessing my ammo while in the middle of something. After making sure that the holster was strapped on good, I bent down and grabbed my backpack along with my baseball bat–placing the bat inside the backpack but leaving the handle exposed so that I'd be able to easily grab it and start swinging if need be.

"Ready, Nathan?"

I nodded as I turned around to see her already waiting at the door. I walked up beside her and pressed the button on the wall panel.

"Ready. Be careful and watch yourself."

The door opened and just as we both stepped out into the sterile hallway, we caught sight of the guard at the opposite end.

"Hey, you there! Hold it!"

Oh…_shit_.

I saw him draw his baton before charging towards us. I grabbed the collar of Kaitlyn's jumpsuit and pulled her back as I ducked back into my room and swapped over to my baseball bat as I heard him come closer. I glanced over at Kaitlyn and saw her gripping her pistol tightly, but also watching me. Even without saying it, we both understood exactly what our plan was. I tightened my grip on the bat and the moment that I saw him pass through the door, I _swung_. I swung with everything I had and connected with the back of his helmet. I heard a crack and watched as he hit the floor before I swung again. This time the back of the helmet shattered and I could hear the crunch as my bat came into contact with the back of his skull.

I felt my hands loosen after a moment and heard the bat as it clattered to the floor followed by me falling to my knees as I realized exactly what I'd just done. I'd just killed a _human _being. Not a radroach. Not someone like Butch, but someone who was just following orders.

Pull yourself together, Nathan. Remember Kaitlyn? You promised to help get her out of here. I forced myself back to my feet before I thought of something. I bent down next to…next to the officer's body and began to unstrap the padded vest from him.

"Nathan, what are you–"

"We need every advantage that we can get," I said slowly as I eventually managed to get the padded vest from his body. Following that, it took a few tries but eventually I managed to get the padded vest strapped over my own jumpsuit as we continued our way down the hallway–passing by the diner and heading up into the Atrium.

"Look, the doctor's already left! That proves that there's got to be _something_ out there beyond the vault."

"Darling, I understand that, but–"

By the time that we'd reached the top of the staircase leading into the Atrium, we were too late to stop what happened next. I saw the two people that we had heard talking begin running towards the far hallway where the front entrance to the vault door–which was currently being guarded by two guards. As I saw the guards raise their guns, I wanted to shout–shout anything to warn the two people to stop running towards the door…but I couldn't. I couldn't let the guards know that we were there. Instead, I grabbed Kaitlyn's hand and all but forced her to follow me off into a side entrance that led up to the second floor just as the couple were gunned down by the two guards.

As we made our way onto the second floor though, I could feel Kaitlyn's hand grip mine tighter as I heard yells from behind a glass screen directed at her.

"It's all your fault! Yours and your dad's! Why'd you have to go and do this!?"

"Just ignore them, Kaitlyn. It's neither your fault nor your dad's fault. The Overseer's gotten out of control. It's all _his_ fault."

"Nathan, I know that."

Sadly, I could tell from her voice that she didn't believe what she was saying, but we didn't have time to waste right now.

"All right. As long as you know."

A moment later though, I stopped in my tracks as I turned to glance at the glass screen of the room that we were at now and realized that it was the security office. I slowly switched over to my pistol and tightened my grip on it as I saw one guard in there along with the Overseer himself.

"Kaitlyn, I need you to focus on the guard and keep pulling the trigger until he goes down…can you do that for me?"

A simple nod was all I needed as I nodded my thanks back to her and pressed the button on the wall panel, bringing my pistol to bear even before the door had completely opened.

"Wha–guard, get them!"

Before the guard could even draw his weapon, he went down–multiple rounds impacting his padded vest, neck, unprotected face, and his arms. I watched as the Overseer realized what had just happened and was about to run, but there was no way in hell that I was going to let _that_ happen. I swung my leg out as fast as I could and caught him just as he began to run. He hit the metal floor face first and I waited to see if he moved. I could tell that he was still breathing though, but…I guess that he hit his head hard enough to knock himself out. I bent down next to him and began to rummage around in his pockets. After a moment, I found a second magazine for Kaitlyn's pistol as well as an office key and a note that simply said: 'the password is Nicole'.

With that done, I glanced over my shoulder to see Kaitlyn grabbing the damaged vest from the dead guard and strapping it over her jumpsuit. I noticed how shaky her hands were and couldn't help but wonder if we would be able to survive long enough to track down her dad. I shook my head after a moment and approached her, handing over the magazine before we began to make our way out of the security office and towards the Overseer's quarters.

As we reached the Overseer's quarters though, I felt my breath hitch and my body freeze as we caught sight of Jonas' dead body lying on the floor amidst a pile of papers. I heard Kaitlyn give off a small gasp and I felt a burning sensation in the back of my throat but I tried to ignore as I knelt down next to him and began to search through his pockets. I hated myself for doing it but anything that he had that could be useful was something that we needed. All that I found in his pockets though was a single holodisk and four bobby pins–all of which I placed in my backpack. Following that, I took off his lab coat–rolling it up and placing it in my backpack as well before I softly closed his eyes and stood back up. With that done, I glanced over to see Kaitlyn already at the door to the Overseer's office–unwilling to be anywhere near Jonas' corpse. I made my way over to the Overseer's office door and unlocked the door as we made our way inside.

"The password's Nicole," I mentioned as I closed the door behind us and watched Kaitlyn silently make her way towards the Overseer's terminal before typing in the password.

After a moment, the floor beneath the Overseer's desk began to ascend and revealed a secret corridor underneath. I followed Kaitlyn down into the secret passageway, helping her to open the rusted door at the bottom, and stopped as we found ourselves in a large, square room.

"Okay Nathan, if I'm not mistaken, on the other side of this room is the vault door and…"

I waved her words away.

"Kaitlyn, I told you earlier that I would help you. It's not as if I can turn back at this point anyway. So from here on out, whatever we face out there, we'll face together, as a team."

She nodded and I couldn't help but wonder if I would one day regret my actions.

"Partners from here on out?"

I nodded and pointed at the button on a wall panel.

"Partners. Now, let's get out of here."

With that said, I pressed the button on the wall panel and watched as the door opened and followed her into the vault door control room.

I glanced up at the giant steel door that had the number "101" etched into it before I walked over to the control panel and pressed the release button for the mechanical arms that controlled the door and smiled as it slowly opened, although after just a moment–

"You did it!"

I smiled a little as I recognized that voice.

Nicole…

"Kaitlyn, you did it! You opened the door! My god, I almost didn't believe that you would make it all the way here."

I coughed a little as I realized that Nicole hadn't noticed me yet.

"She didn't make it all the way here alone, Nicole. She had some help."

"Nathan! But–but what are you doing here?"

I shrugged my shoulders and tried to play off everything that we had to do to get to this point.

"I got dragged into yet another mess like I always do. But, I told Kaitlyn that I'd get her here safely and I did like I said I would."

"Nicole, why don't you come with us? We could really use your help."

Nicole shook her head sadly.

"I'm sorry, but I can't…not yet at least. I'm going to stay here and see if I can try to patch up things and get everything back to normal. Besides, if anyone can survive out there, it's the two of you. I'm sure of that."

Kaitlyn and I both lowered our heads a little at that statement but we both snapped our heads back up as we heard the sound of security patrols heading for the room.

Shit!

"We've got to get out of here, Nathan!"

I nodded my agreement to Kaitlyn before turning back to Nicole for a moment.

"Thank you Nicole…for everything. You've been a great friend all these years…goodbye."

With that said, the two of us made our way through the door and up into the tunnel that connected to the surface. We stopped for a moment and turned around to see that the main vault door was being closed behind us, sealing our fates forever as outcasts of Vault 101.

We shared a quiet moment there as we watched the door fully seal once again before we pushed past the small wooden door at the top of the tunnel and made our way out into whatever was left of the world–the light suddenly blinding us for a moment.

"Oww!"

As soon as we could see though, I think that the ability to actually say anything worth saying just disappeared from our minds as we saw that there was nothing left but desolation as far as the eye could see…although, at least the air was still breathable. We silently made our way down the small hill that the vault had been built inside of and onto a small outcropping of rocks so that we could get a better view of what was left of the once great United States.


	2. Chapter 2 - Megaton-Caps and Silver

Chapter 02: Megaton / Caps and Silver

After we'd left Vault 101 and descended the hill, I'd activated my Pip-Boy's map function and had it scan the surrounding area for any sign of civilization. After a few moments, it had beeped as it found a settlement just a short distance south of us–thankfully within walking distance. Surprisingly enough, we managed to reach the settlement without any incidents and…were caught by an old protectron robot at the gate to the settlement.

"Welcome to Megaton. The bomb is perfectly safe, we promise. Please hold for threat level assessment. Threat level minimal. Open the gates. Open the gates. Welcome to Megaton."

I glanced over at Kaitlyn only to see her staring at the robot speechless. I mentally laughed a little as I realized that she had spent most of her time back in the vault learning about medicine and being a doctor like her dad whereas I spent a good bit of my time working with and learning about machines and technology.

"It's all right, Kaitlyn. It won't attack us…at least as long as we don't attack it first."

It was at about that time that I heard a loud creaking and glanced up to see the giant gate of the settlement–no, Megaton–begin to slide open to allow us entrance.

"Well Nathan, you coming?"

I shook my head as I realized that Kaitlyn had already made her way past the gate while I had been staring at it.

"I'm coming," I replied as I followed her past the gate and into the settlement of Megaton–all the while typing the name of the settlement into my Pip-Boy's map so that I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting this place anytime soon.

Wait a sec! What'd he mean by 'the bomb is perfectly safe'?

Even with that thought in my head though, I still whistled a little as soon as we were past the gate and found ourselves at the top of a small hill–actually just the outer edge of the crater that the town was actually built around–that led down and into the actual town. The houses themselves were built from all sorts of scrap metal and junk. The buildings built up the slopes of the crater were situated on top of the ones on the bottom level…and somehow they were all being held up by all sorts of metal supports and pipes. In the center of the town though was an–

Holy shit…well, I suppose that explains why it's called 'Megaton'.

–undetonated nuclear warhead.

I tried to keep my cool even as I heard Kaitlyn's gasp before we began to descend down the hill and into the actual settlement–being stopped by an older man dressed like one of those guys in those old dime novels about the Old West after a few moments.

"Well I'll be damned, another newcomer–two newcomers at that–and both vault residents!"

I glanced at his outfit and wasn't surprised at all when I realized that my first guess had been absolutely right: a sheriff's duster complete with a gold star badge and a classic ten-gallon hat along with a dark beard that matched his complexion.

"Welcome to Megaton. So, what should I call you two?"

I glanced over to see Kaitlyn take a step towards the man and extend her hand for a handshake.

"Well, my name's Kaitlyn and this is Nathan."

I nodded once as she said my name and watched as the man shook hands with her.

"Well, friendly and well mannered. I get the feeling we'll get along just fine. Name's Lucas Simms by the way, I'm the sheriff around here."

"By the way, we're, umm, we're looking for my dad. Maybe you've seen him. Middle-aged guy, looks kind of like me."

"Sorry, but I don't have the time to keep track of every newcomer. You should try Moriarty's saloon, he keeps track of people better than I do. If you need anything, stop in at The Craterside Supply, a girl named Moira runs the place. She's a bit of an odd one but she has a nice selection and has a knack for repairing things."

With that said, he walked away and left us alone.

"Okay…why do I feel just like I walked into a post-apocalyptic western?"

Kaitlyn giggled a little at that before glancing at a sign that showed where the individual buildings were and I couldn't help but smile a little as I realized that it was the first time that she had giggled or chuckled or anything since she burst into my room in the vault asking for my help.

"So Nathan, who do you think we should go see first?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know–"

I chuckled a little before I continued.

"–but I could really use a drink right now. I suppose that I'll check out Moriarty and you can check out the supply place. If it turns out that this Moriarty guy has actually seen your dad, I'll come and get you, all right?"

"All right, just don't get too drunk, Nathan."

I just shrugged my shoulders as I made my way up onto the higher level where the saloon was located and walked through the front door as soon as I found it. I nearly wound up flat on my ass as some drunk stumbled out right as I walked inside but I managed to barely avoid him before I took a seat at the bar and found myself face to face with a…a…

"What, you never seen a ghoul before?"

I blinked a few times and tried to get the stunned look off my face as quick as I could.

'_A ghoul_'? Reminds me more of a zombie.

"Sorry, grew up in a vault. Still trying to get used to everything out here."

He nodded once, the simple action giving his already grotesque appearance a new layer of creepy.

"So smoothskin, what will you be having?"

I sighed and tried to read the labels of the bottles on the back wall.

"How about a beer?"

The _ghoul_ nodded as he grabbed a dirty bottle and handed it to me. I nodded my thanks–wiping the caked dust and dirt from the top of the bottle–and took a couple of deep gulps…and promptly felt like gagging.

"Vault stomach can't take it?"

I shrugged and took another sip. A drink was a drink after all when you were thirsty, no matter how bad it might taste.

"So, a Vaultie?"

I heard the question and glanced over my shoulder to see an older man sitting on the bar stool next to me. He was dressed in what looked like leather armor with an old Chinese Assault Rifle slung across his back. He watched me with a pair of dark eyes–which had definitely seen the face of hell many times before–from beneath a veil of short hair that wasn't that much darker than my own brown hair.

I shrugged at his question and downed another gulp, wondering if I'd ever get used to drinking this stuff.

"Yeah, what about it?"

He laughed with a hoarse laugh before he said anything else.

"A spitfire. Haven't seen one like you in a long time."

I glanced down at my drink at _that._

"I'm no spitfire. Just a guy that's got no clue what's ahead of him."

The man chuckled darkly at that.

"Been there before."

"So, what's your name?"

"It's Jericho. Yours?"

I finished off the last drop of beer in the bottle and slid it back over to where the ghoul was standing.

"Nathan."

I began to get up after I said that but I stopped as I realized that the ghoul was watching me.

"What?"

"You didn't pay, smoothskin. A beer's two caps."

Shit…

A moment later though, I heard two things–two frickin' _bottle caps_–drop onto the table and saw the ghoul grab them before placing them in the cash register.

"Consider that a favor, Nathan."

I glanced over at Jericho and saw him still working on his own bottle.

"Thanks. So what, the currency out here is bottle caps?"

He gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, that's right."

I sighed.

Well…I'm screwed then.

I walked away after that, intent on trying to find this "Moriarty" person.

"Hey, who are you looking for, handsome?"

I turned at _that_ and spotted a woman probably a couple of years older than me.

"Somebody named Moriarty."

She seemed to scoff a little at that.

"Well, he's not here. He's down at The Craterside Supply right now."

I nodded my thanks as I rushed out of there and began to head for the same place that Kaitlyn had originally headed towards. Just as I walked through the door though–

"Oi! You must be little Kaitlyn!"

–I noticed three people in the center of the room: a girl that I guessed was the owner of the place, an older guy that was talking to Kaitlyn, and, well, Kaitlyn herself.

"Umm, yeah, that's me."

"I'm Moriarty, but you don't remember me, do you?"

"How–how did you know my name exactly?"

"I see your confusion. Okay no more games. Your dad came through here about nineteen years ago; you were just a wee little lass with nary a tit to suckle."

I chuckled just a little at the man's choice of words but my chuckling stopped as something clicked in my head although Kaitlyn was the first to voice it.

"Wait, that's not possible."

Moriarty smirked a little as he heard Kaitlyn's words.

"How do you figure that?"

"My dad said I was born in Vault 101."

"Oh the lies we tell the ones we love. Okay, he stopped by here not but a couple of hours ago, he stepped in and we talked a bit. A great guy your dad is, a real stand up kind of person. He mumbled some scientific stuff about his late wife's dream. Listen kid, you wanna know where your dad is or not?"

"How did you know I was looking for him?"

"The look on your face says it all. Anyways, remember information isn't cheap around here."

I grimaced at that as I realized the truth in his words.

"I have to pay you, don't I?"

"Three hundred caps."

My jaw must have dropped when I heard that. Two caps for a bottle of beer yet three hundred for information!?

"Of course if you don't have that much on you, I've got a job that needs doing."

I saw Kaitlyn glance over at me for a second and I wondered why for a moment, but then I found out exactly why.

"Umm Nathan, if it's not too much…"

"You want me to do the job for him, right?"

She seemed a little surprised for a moment but then nodded towards the young woman that I had guessed to be the owner of the store.

"I already promised Moira that I would help her out with research for a book of hers."

I shrugged and nodded. Maybe splitting up for a little while and getting double the work done would be a good thing…as long as neither of us got in over our heads of course.

"All right, Kaitlyn."

"So, you're going to do it for her? All right then, come with me."

I nodded and began walking but stopped right beside Kaitlyn and ruffled her long hair a little–

"Just don't start slacking off on that research."

–before I left The Craterside Supply with Moriarty leading the way.

After a few minutes, we reached the entrance to Megaton and he began to explain what the job was.

"All right…Nathan. There's this woman who used to work for me at the saloon a while back. Name's Silver. She still owes me caps for…some business that we used to be involved in. Three hundred caps to be precise. What I need you to do is collect her debt to me."

I sighed in relief. At least he wasn't asking me to kill this…Silver, just get some money back.

"Got it. So, where can I find her?"

He pointed towards the northwest.

"She's in Springvale. You should have seen the town when you left the vault."

"Town?"

I tried to think for a few seconds and then it hit me.

"Oh yeah, the ruined, abandoned town right down the hill from the vault entrance."

He nodded.

"She's in a small ranch house at the far end of what's left of the town…I wouldn't suggest going into the old schoolhouse there though."

"Okay…but um, why?"

He simply patted me on the shoulder and began to head back inside Megaton.

"Let's just say that you'll find out quickly '_why_' if you go inside. Now, be on your way and be careful with Silver. She can be trouble sometimes."

Okay…

I made sure that I was prepared–five rounds chambered into my pistol, my bat still being within reach, etc. After a few moments, I sighed and finally decided to get on my way, hoping that I'd be back to Megaton by the time that the sun set.

Eventually I finally made it to the small ranch house that Moriarty had told me about…a little worse for wear. I'd managed to be attacked by two over-sized mole rats and a vicious dog…the still-bleeding gashes visible on my arms through the rips in my jumpsuit proof enough of that.

Damn it…I knew that I should have taken at least _one_ of those Stimpaks that Kaitlyn had taken with her when we left the vault.

I holstered my pistol and then knocked on the front door.

"Silver? Are you there?"

"Who is it?"

Even though I couldn't see the voice's owner, I could definitely tell that it was an older woman's voice and then heard a clicking sound.

She's probably just unlocking the door.

"Some guy back in Megaton called Moriarty sent me here to collect some caps that he said that you owed him."

"Well, come on in then, kid."

With that said, she unlocked the door and beckoned me inside.

I tried to smiled a little as I made my way inside and took in the sight of the dirty rooms littered with syringes everywhere–some empty, some still full.

"Thanks for letting me in. Moriarty said you might be trouble but he must have been lying–"

Shit…

I shut up right then as I turned around to see Silver aiming right at me with a .32 pistol just like mine–except that this one was more rusted and used.

"Hold on! I'm not here to hurt you! I just need the caps you owe so that I can get a friend some information!"

She seemed to sneer a little as she took a few steps closer to me.

"Are you stupid? I don't have any fucking caps for that asshole. You'd better get the hell out of here. And tell that fucker that you couldn't find a trace of me."

"Look, I just need to get this information. I need to help my friend, and to do that I need those caps."

She still didn't lower the gun though so I decided to try to salvage this conversation if I could at all. I slowly took a few steps to the left–sighing with relief as she didn't follow me with that damn pistol.

"Please just listen to me…I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm from Vault 101 and all I'm trying to do is help a friend find her father out in this hellish wasteland. He left the vault and we don't know where he is."

"Kid, you aren't getting any caps. I'm giving you one more chance to leave."

With that said, she began to take aim at me once again, but right then…right then, something just seemed to snap inside me. In one swift motion, I grabbed my bat from my pack and managed to connect it with the side of her head–only giving her enough time to get off two shots: both rounds hitting the already worn-down security vest and managing to puncture the flesh underneath. I watched as her pistol fell from her hand and swung down a second time–a third time–and then a fourth time until the bat was bloody and Silver was long dead. I sighed to myself as I tried to catch my breath and tried to get rid of the adrenaline rush that I had felt. I'd…I'd wanted to do this without any kind of violence, but…I shook my head and tried to steady my shaky breathing. Focus Nathan. Focus on finding those caps and hope that something good can come out of this. I tossed my bat back into my backpack and began to search through her pockets–finding a few .32 rounds, four syringes filled with the same liquid as the still full ones that had been scattered on the floor, and _four_ hundred caps.

"Oww! Oww! Oww!"

I gasped for breath as I leaned against the nearest wall and finally realized–for the first time at that–that Silver had managed to wound me. I took off the security vest and unzipped my jumpsuit enough to see the two holes in my chest. I sighed in relief after a moment as I realized that the vest had kept them not only from going clean through but also from going in deep. After a few moments, I managed to dig both of the bullets out and–as I strapped the vest back on–decided that I was never _ever_ going to go anywhere from now on without at least some Med-X or a handful of Stimpaks. In the end, I wound up slowly but surely making my way back into Megaton–managing to make it back to The Craterside Supply building just as the sun finally set below the horizon.

As soon as I walked through the door though, I found the weirdest sight to my weary mind and eyes. Kaitlyn–who just happened to be unconscious–was lying down on a cot that had been spread out on the floor, an IV bag reading 'RadAway' stuck into her arm, Moira watching over her and jotting down notes and…wait, was Kaitlyn glowing a little?

I chuckled a little as I took a few–admittedly stumbling–steps into the center of the room and caught Moira's attention

"Why's she glowing?"

"Oh, she contracted radiation sickness, that's all."

"So, she's radioactive now? Well, I guess that it just adds to her glowing personality…"

And with that, I took one more stumbling step, fell flat on my face, and started feeling kind of sleeee…py…


	3. Chapter 3 -Megaton-The Power of the Atom

Chapter 03: Megaton / The Power of the Atom

"Ugh…"

I groaned a little as I slowly opened my eyes to see Kaitlyn over me, looking–at least a little–concerned for me.

"Uh…what happened? This…"

I tried to get up and slowly but surely made my way into a sitting position. I glanced down at my wrist and saw a small IV needle inserted and followed the cord back up until I saw a…blood bag.

"Um, Kaitlyn…why is a–"

She gave off a relieved chuckle and smiled just a little.

"Moira told me that you walked in yesterday evening, told a terrible joke, and suddenly decided that the floor seemed like a good place to take a nap…it seems like what happened was that you lost a lot of blood, but don't worry, Moira patched you up almost as good as new…although, what exactly happened out there?"

I groaned a little as my memories of yesterday slowly–and finally–came back to me…including my killing of Silver.

"I…got a little over-confident, that's all. I did manage to get the caps that we needed, as well as a few for us to keep."

I took out three hundred of the caps from a pocket in my nearby backpack and handed them to her.

"Here, just like I promised…by the way, how'd the research go?"

Kaitlyn seemed to perk up a little at that.

"Oh, well let's see…had to go a Super-Duper Mart to grab food…and got attacked by–what Moira told me afterwards–Raiders. After that, I had to contract radiation sickness–which really _really_ sucks. That about sums up yesterday. While you've been asleep though, I headed to a town called Minefield northeast of here, retrieved a frag mine so that Moira could examine it, and managed to get shot at by some sniper in that town while the whole town went up in flames all around me…so as of now, we've managed to finish the first chapter of that survival guide."

I just kind of stared at her for a minute or so as I let all of that sink in…she got attacked by 'Raiders', contracted radiation sickness, went to a place actually called Minefield, had to retrieve a working mine, and was shot at by a sniper…

"Damn…"

She nodded.

"And all I got stuck with was just doing a small job for an extortionist…I feel like I got cheated."

Kaitlyn just stared at me for a moment as I said that before we both burst out laughing at our luck and situation.

It was at about that time, that I finally noticed something different about Kaitlyn.

"Hey, Kaitlyn?"

"Hmm?"

"Umm, when'd you get that new vault suit?"

She seemed to glance down at the outfit for a moment. At first glance, it looked just like her original normal vault suit…but that was wrong. This vault suit actually had several metal plates attached over different parts of the body to provide additional protection along with a single shoulder guard on the left shoulder.

"Oh, Moira gave it to me yesterday for telling her about how life was back in Vault 101. She told me to consider it a gift since the person that it had been made for originally never came back to pick it up. I think that she called it an…Armored Vault Suit or something like that."

I nodded and smiled a little as I got to my feet–_gently_ ripping the IV needle out of my arm.

"Well, it looks great on you. I'm actually a little jealous, but I really doubt that it would fit me anyway. It's not like clothes can magically change size to fit anybody, no matter their size or gender, right? Well, let's head over to Moriarty's and get that information. That sound good to you?"

All she did was nod, but that was more than enough for me as we left The Craterside Supply and headed to Moriarty's.

As soon as we reached and entered the saloon though, Moriarty appeared from somewhere almost as if he had been expecting us right then…damn extortionist probably had a built in radar for caps or something like that.

"I see the job got completed."

He held out his hands in what I could only call a "come on, gimme" gesture.

She handed over the three hundred caps that I had given her earlier and saw Moriarty count each and every _one_ almost as if he didn't trust us.

"So now you'll tell us where my dad is, _right?_"

"Oh yeah, he ran off to Galaxy News Radio to talk to that…what was his name? Free Hog, Sea Fog, Pea Bog…Three Dog, that's it!"

I nodded my head and began to search for the location on my Pip-Boy. While I had been heading for Silver's house the day before, I'd tuned in to some old radio stations and eventually settled on GNR–have to admit, I kind of liked the guy's sense of humor if nothing else. It was definitely better than that Enclave radio station with that blowhard John Henry Eden.

"Galaxy News Radio?"

I turned towards Kaitlyn.

"It's a radio station, Kaitlyn. You need to listen to it some time. Three Dog's already announced a few comments over the air about us and your dad."

I sighed a little after a moment though as my Pip-Boy finally traced the signal for the GNR building…it was right smack dab in the dead center of the DC ruins.

"What kind of comments?"

I shrugged my shoulders a little as I tried to remember some of the announcements that I had heard and then decided that it would just be a lot easier to tune into the station on my Pip-Boy. At first, I just got a bunch of static but then Three Dog's voice began to come in loud and clear.

"_**It is I, Three Dog, your friendly neighborhood disc jockey! What's a disc? Hell if I know, but I'm gonna keep talking anyway…not too long ago, I reported that a cat recently left Vault 101. Turns out, it gets better! I got a new report here that someone else**_–_**no, actually two people**_–_**has just climbed out of that hole. What the hell is going on down there!? Revolution? Vacation? Somebody fart? Your guess is as good as mine, kids…until next time, this is Three Dog, and you're listening to Galaxy News Radio. Bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts. And now, some music."**_

I turned the radio function off as whatever song it was started playing and turned to Kaitlyn–trying to smile a little.

"Well, that about sums it up. Guess we're celebrities now."

"Yeah."

I nodded at Kaitlyn's agreement and finally realized for the first time that Moriarty had left us all alone in the center of the saloon.

Probably off doing things that I don't even want to imagine while drooling over those three hundred caps.

After a moment though, I felt a tugging on my arm and glanced down to see Kaitlyn gripping my arm as she glanced over at some weirdo that was sitting in the far corner of the saloon. For whatever reason, I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"What's wrong, Kaitlyn? Are of you afraid of him or something?"

"I'm not really afraid, it's just that…he asked me to do a job for him earlier…"

I raised an eyebrow at that as I tried to figure out what could have Kaitlyn this worked up.

"And?"

"He…he told me that he had already heard about me persuading the sheriff to let us try to disarm that bomb outside and…tried to persuade me to rig the bomb with what he called a 'fusion pulse charge' so that it could be detonated later–detonated! He said that his boss considered Megaton to be an eyesore and wanted to be rid of it."

I think that my jaw must have figuratively dropped for a moment a moment as she realized what she just told me that the man had wanted her to rig to the bomb. What the hell could that guy be thinking? I tried to shake the thought away before I brought my attention back to her.

"So, let me guess…you're siding with the sheriff, right?"

I smiled a little as I saw her nod. She'd always been like a little sister to me and I was glad that she hadn't been corrupted by this wasteland so far in the past two days.

"Glad to hear that. What's this guy's name anyway?"

"Burke."

"All right, do you mind getting the sheriff for me? Oh and when you get back with him, be ready to use your gun at any second."

She gave me a weird look for that and I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Just a precaution, that's all. Better ready than dead, right?"

I guess that was enough of an answer for her because she left without another moment's hesitation. I sighed a little though as I glanced back over at the man–Burke–and began to approach him.

"Ahh, who do we have here?"

I ignored his words for a moment as I grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it over where he was sitting and sat down myself.

"Your name's Burke, right?"

Kaitlyn was right…there really was something _off_ about this guy.

"Yes, it is. Now, who are you?"

I leaned forward in my chair a little, all the while making sure that my right hand rested on my thigh.

"Just somebody who until very recently used to be a Vaultie, that's all."

"Then, I suppose that this wasteland has been an uncomfortable experience for you, has it not?"

I decided to play along with him for the moment.

"No clean clothes, no pure water, radiation everywhere…what do you think?"

He smiled a little.

"I could help you with that. You see, my boss owns a _very_ luxurious building southwest of here called Tenpenny Tower. I could easily give you one of the Tower's suites in exchange for a little job."

I smiled a little then.

"'_A little job_'? Sounds like a good description for wanting somebody to detonate a nuke and destroy an entire town. Sorry, but no way in hell am I going to have these people's blood on my hands."

His smile seemed to completely melt off his face as he slowly began to reach into his pocket.

"You just made a powerful enemy; best watch your back kid."

"Maybe so."

With that, I pulled my gun on him, the .32 pistol already cocked and aimed while his hand was still stuck in his pocket.

Right then, Kaitlyn and Lucas Simms approached Burke before Simms began talking about how Burke was under arrest and all that…

After he finished talking though, Simms did the stupidest thing that I had ever seen anybody do; he turned his back on Burke…as if expecting Burke to actually follow him. I already knew that the bastard wouldn't go along with that and Kaitlyn must have come to the same realization because by the time Burke managed to take aim at the sheriff's back, he was already on the floor, bleeding out from four shots–one to his shooting arm, two to the stomach, and one to the throat.

"…bust be getting slow."

I just stared at Simms for a moment as I heard those words come out of his mouth but just decided to let it go after a moment. He left after a moment and I watched Kaitlyn slump into the chair that I had been sitting in beforehand as I knelt down next to Burke's body and began to see what I could take.

Silenced 10mm pistol and some 10mm ammo…might be handy for sneaking around some time. A pair of tortoiseshell glasses…well, there's always a chance for a sunny day, right? A pre-war hat that was what they used to call…what was it? Oh yeah, a fedora! As for the rest of his clothes…ah, well, he can keep them.

"So Nathan, what's next? Do we head for GNR right now or…"

I thought about it for a moment. We'd already wasted a good bit of daylight with this entire incident and I didn't exactly feel like having to go up against the creatures of the night–whom I wouldn't be able to see that easily–when we could just as easily wait a little longer and go after the creatures that we could actually _see_.

"I think that we'd be better off waiting until tomorrow morning and leaving as soon as it's bright enough to see where we're going. I know that you want to catch up with your dad and I promised to be your partner but it won't help anyone if we end up losing our way in the darkness of night and wind up on the opposite side of the state by the time that morning finally comes."

She nodded her agreement after a moment and I felt a small smile come to my face right before I remembered one _little_ thing in particular.

"Umm, Kaitlyn, I don't suppose that you'd know of anywhere that we could stay for the night, would you?"

She seemed to brighten up for a moment as she nodded.

"Yeah, Moira's. She told me that we're welcome to stay there for a little while if we need to since we are providing her the information for her book."

I sighed in relief.

"Whew, that's good news. Speaking of Moira though, I need to head over there and see if I can't get her to buy any of this junk that I've been carrying around."

With that said, I decided to take my leave. After all, if Kaitlyn needed me for any reason then she knew where to find me for the next little while.

"Hey there, you're Kaitlyn's friend, right?"

I nodded my head to Moira's question as I began to sort through the items in my backpack as well as unstrapping the damaged security vest that I was still wearing.

"Yeah, I am. Name's Nathan, Moira."

After sorting through all the junk that I had, I finally wound up just handing over the security vest.

"So, how much can I get for this?"

She looked it over for a minute or two and then smiled some.

"Well, it's dented up pretty badly and has a couple of bullet holes in it but I can probably find some use for it. Um, let's see…how about twenty-five caps?"

I nodded my head and accepted the caps.

Well, every little bit matters, right?

Anyway, I told her thanks and made my way out of her building–slipping Jonas' vault lab coat on over my jumpsuit and fitting the hat that I had taken from Burke on my head right–as I decided to go and search for Kaitlyn.

I ended up searching nearly the entirety of Megaton before I finally decided to see if she was outside the town.

Bingo.

I wound up finding her just outside Megaton's entrance watching the sun set over the horizon. I chuckled a little as I sat down on the ground next to her and leaned back against the metallic wall that encompassed all of Megaton.

"Kaitlyn enjoying a sunset? I guess that the world really has gone to hell."

She chuckled a little at that.

"Well, we didn't have sunsets back in the vault, now did we Nathan?"

"I see your point."

With that said, I began to watch the sunset too. After all, I'd been coming back here bloodied and half-delusional the last time when the sun had been setting and hadn't been able to enjoy it then.

"Hey Nathan?"

"Hmm?"

I glanced over at her and noticed a kind of sad look on her face as I realized that she was not watching the sunset anymore but was now staring off towards where DC was.

"Why, Nathan?"

I raised an eyebrow at that as I tried to figure out what she could have been talking about.

"Why what, Kaitlyn?"

She seemed to sigh a little at that and slowly got up from the ground, brushing the dirt off her armored vault suit.

"Just forget it. It's nothing."

I kept my eyes trained on hers for a moment as she said that but I finally sighed and nodded.

"All right, if you say so."

After all, I really didn't feel like forcing her to say something that she didn't feel like saying right then. I got up from my place on the ground as well after a moment–brushing as much of the dirt off of my lab coat as I could–and caught up with her as she began to make her way back into Megaton. I already knew where she was going to though: The Craterside Supply.

I sighed as I rolled onto my back on the old cot spread out on the floor. I'd been lying there for about an hour straight and still couldn't fall asleep. I sighed a little to myself and glanced over to see Kaitlyn on the cot next to me, sleeping with her back turned to me.

"Nathan, you still awake?"

I guess that she heard me turning over just a second ago…wait a second, wasn't she asleep with her back turned to…heh, I guess that she couldn't sleep either.

"Yeah, I'm awake. So, you can't sleep either?"

"Uh-uh. Um, Nathan…"

"Hmm?"

"About earlier…it's just that…why _did_ you agree to come with me? You didn't–and still don't–have anything at stake in this. We're looking for _my_ dad. The Overseer was after _me_. None of this has–or had–anything to do with you, Nathan."

I smiled a little as I glanced up at the ceiling for a moment before I turned my attention back to Kaitlyn.

"'_You don't have anything at stake in this_'? You're wrong about that, Kaitlyn. I do have something at stake here. You…"

I paused for a moment as I took a breath and remembered what had happened in the vault only a day earlier.

"…you're my friend. Even if the vault was my home, I couldn't bear to lose a friend just to keep a home. You're my stake in this, Kaitlyn. I'm your friend, your partner. I could have never lived with myself if I turned my back on you back in the vault…"

I chuckled a little as another thought came to me.

"…besides, it wasn't as if I had that much to chain me to Vault 101. No siblings, both of my parents have been dead for a couple of years, and just two friends–you and Nicole."

With that said, I could see the barest hint of a smile on her face even in the darkness.

"Nathan…thank you."

I shook my head.

"No Kaitlyn, thank…"

My voice trailed off right then and I smiled a little as I realized that she had fallen asleep almost immediately after she finished telling me thanks. I slowly sat up on my cot for the first time and began to shrug out of the lab coat that I had fallen asleep in as I saw Kaitlyn start shivering in her sleep. That was the only bad thing about her armored vault suit, it wasn't the most comfortable thing to sleep in so that meant that she had to take it off earlier and try to sleep without it. I managed to take off my coat after a few moments and slid over next to her before I slowly placed the lab coat over her like a blanket and decided to go to sleep myself.

"Good night Kaitlyn…"

…and please–for both of our sakes–never change. Please always stay like you are right now.


End file.
